OpenTTD 13.0-beta2 released

[Eddi]

Another solution that could be helpful here, but not only here, would be to add a railroad sign feature.

In the case of level crossings, a sign could be available which, if passed, would close the nearest crossing, irrespective of the location and type of signalling. The crossing would be closed when there is a train between the sign and the crossing. Such a solution would also be useful on lines with more train traffic, where denser signaling is needed. Such signs could also be placed automatically by the game itself (e.g. at a distance of 5 tiles from the crossing).

that's not going to work. as closing level crossings is currently tied to the path reservation. if you want to decouple this, you need to find another map bit to mark a crossing as "train is approaching"

[odisseus]

closing level crossings is currently tied to the path reservation.

That's a pity, because this "feature" is worse than useless. The signal distance on the rail line has no bearing whatsoever on safe timing of the road crossing. If the signal distance is big, the trucks will wait forever for the train to show up. If the signal distance is small, the crossing will close too late. Moreover, placing path signals to adjust the timing of a road crossing will almost certainly cause problems on the track.

Now that I think about it, I believe the right solution must take into account the speeds of vehicles that are possible on the given combination of track and road. However, the straightforward calculation I have proposed earlier is not without its own drawbacks. For example, it doesn't take into account that the road vehicle is likely to enter the crossing at less than its top speed.

And before somebody reiterates the timeless advice to build a bridge... no, that's not a universal solution. Sometimes you aren't vigilant when another player builds a track over your road. Sometimes you don't own the road on which your vehicles travel. Sometimes the town doesn't let you remove a road piece to build a bridgehead. Sometimes the space is at a premium. Sometimes you just cannot afford the construction.

[PikkaBird]

If the signal distance is big, the trucks will wait forever for the train to show up. If the signal distance is small, the crossing will close too late. Moreover, placing path signals to adjust the timing of a road crossing will almost certainly cause problems on the track.

I find positioning signals to make crossings safe[r] a perfectly reasonable thing to do - but then I'm not hyper-anal about signal distances and trains getting in each others way.

[...] Sometimes [...] Sometimes [...] Sometimes [...] Sometimes [...]

Swings and roundabouts are the essence of gameplay, right? If you want a universal "solution" to potentially-dangerous crossings that fixes all problems and has no drawbacks, why have the feature at all?

[odisseus]

I find positioning signals to make crossings safe[r] a perfectly reasonable thing to do - but then I'm not hyper-anal about signal distances and trains getting in each others way.

I'm not being "hyper-anal about signal distances". I'm pointing out that the signal trick causes more problems than it solves — provided that it changes anything at all.

If the warning time is too short, you cannot fix the situation by placing additional signals. You can try to mitigate the problem by removing signals, but this can cripple the throughput of the rail line. This is especially likely to happen in towns, where the stations tend to be busy and the road network is dense.

If the warning time is too long, the rail line is most likely single-track, possibly with passing loops. Placing any signals in the middle of a single-track section is virtually guaranteed to cause a deadlock.

Swings and roundabouts are the essence of gameplay, right? If you want a universal "solution" to potentially-dangerous crossings that fixes all problems and has no drawbacks, why have the feature at all?

I just want the crossings to have reasonable behaviour.

The game pretends that there are many intelligent agents such as vehicle drivers, signalmen, town aldermen etc. Of course, these agents exist only in the player's imagination, but to maintain a semblance of realism, the game must make these imagined agents behave in a reasonable or at least self-preserving way. For example, a train driver never passes a red light (unless explicitly ordered to do so), and a signalman never directs a train into an occupied section. Why then does a truck driver recklessly drive into an oncoming train? Why does a crossing operator close the crossing when the train is still a long way off, or negligently keep it open until the very last moment?

[kamnet]

If you believe that the distance between the signals is too short or too long, then either adjust the signal distance or eliminate the level crossing and use a bridge or tunnel. It's really just that simple. In all the time that I've been using the feature, I've never had an issue with the signals that moving them a few tiles hasn't remedied.

[Eddi]

if the signal distance is so tight that increasing it hampers your line throughput, then there is also not enough time inbetween trains for a road vehicle to cross. which brings you back to the bridge as the only reasonable solution.